An essay is a form of writing that students of all levels have to encounter throughout their academic phase. Essays require some brainstorming and an organized pattern of ideas mixed in with creativity to be effective enough for earning a good grade. Lack of confidence and preparation can result in a poorly structured essay that is a waste of time and effort. A descriptive essay is one of the four types of essays which include expository, narrative, and argumentative essays. For now, we are going to observe the details and techniques that go into crafting a creative and well written descriptive essay.

 

What is a Descriptive Essay

A descriptive narrative requires the writer to create imagery with words inside the reader’s mind. The vocabulary must be precisely selected to convey the sense of taste, smell, sight, touch, and sound in an impactful way. This is the basic skill you need in order to make a descriptive essay a masterpiece.

Looking at a descriptive essay from the reader’s point of view can give you a better perspective on this type of writing. It should make sense to the reader and written in a way that is easy to comprehend. Clear and appealingly worded paragraphs are the key to effective descriptive writing.

 

How to Start a Descriptive Essay

The process of crafting a descriptive essay begins with the task of choosing a topic. It is usually based upon a single location, person, event, or item. It is the writer’s job to convey the idea behind the topic through a description and to exhibit in the most interesting way possible to the reader.

Structure of the essay in a way that gives context to the topic. When describing an event, you should write in a chronological sequence. If the essay is about a place or person you must start it with a general description and then go deeper into the details later. The introductory section of the essay is where you need to set the tone of the essay. So it must have a glimpse of all the basic ideas that are going to be present further on.

A thesis statement is a next step. The thesis is the singular idea that is going to be reflecting throughout the entire essay. It clarifies the purpose of the essay along with regulating how the information is woven within the lines of the essay. It helps create a framework to hold up the ideas and arguments presented in the main body.

Further;

As the essay is wholly based upon the creation of sensory images. To make the process easier you can draw five columns on a paper labeled with each of the senses. These will be perfect creative writing prompts to help you brainstorm even while describing the topic. List any feeling or sensation that in your mind is associated with each of the senses. There need to be vivid details attached to the thesis to support the idea it displays. Literary tools like similes, metaphors, personification, and well-chosen adjectives will give your essay weight and originality.

Never skip out on creating a proper outline and just diving headfirst into the writing process. It is essential for the crisp and smooth flow of your essay to work with an outline that has everything you need to include in the essay mapped out in an organized and planned method. High school students are usually assigned a paragraph limit of five when given a descriptive essay. While higher-level students have more freedom when it comes to the amount of material the put in. The standard structure though which consists of five paragraphs including an introduction with the thesis statement, three paragraphs for the body, and a final one for summing it all up into a conclusive whole.

To get an even clearer understanding of a descriptive essay, if you are entirely new to it, you can search for descriptive writing or various topics and read carefully through them to find out the literary devices that turn an average essay into an excellent one. The more you read the genre the clearer your concept will become. You will feel confident when its time to write one of your own.

 

What is the Purpose of a Descriptive Essay

Different genres of essay writing develop different skills of the writer. A descriptive essay helps you develop a way of writing that is enjoyable, unique and makes you an expert in painting a picture before the reader’s eyes with your words. Students are encouraged to learn and use new words which greatly improves vocabulary. And their knowledge is increased with each new essay when they have to research the topic and find the appropriate material that will help them know more about what they are writing.

 

Final Word

Once your essay is completed read it through carefully to mark out any spelling, punctuation, or grammar mistakes that are evident. It lowers the quality of your essay if any clichés are included so be sure to avoid that. Keep everything precise and to the point yet make an extra effort to make sure, it is original and does not unintentionally borrow ideas or writing style from any other piece of writing. If you find there are parts that do not exactly make sense. And are not clear in any aspect then you can eliminate them and write afresh.

Proofread and edit by reading aloud or asking someone else to read it for you. An outside opinion is a good way to ensure if your essay will appeal to a reader. And you can find errors that you might have missed on your own. The process of writing a descriptive essay might be lengthy yet it is quite rewarding when it is finally accomplished. Once you have become familiar with it, things will go much quicker as your vocabulary increases. And gets refine and your knowledge about different topics gradually becomes vaster. Keep practicing all the tips discussed here and you will find yourself an expert in it in no time.